Fishing lure

ABSTRACT

A fishing lure which includes a crankbait body has a cavity in the lower surface of the body. An elongated insert (which may be a chemiluminescent tube or a colored tube) is positioned in the cavity so that the element is exposed below and on both sides of the crankbait body. The chemiluminescent element is releaseably held in place by a bias spring, a loop located near the forward end of the cavity, or by flexing the element so that it is captured by recesses at the front and rear ends of the cavity.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION(S)

This is a Divisional Application claiming priority from U.S. applicationSer. No. 09/169,880 filed Oct. 12, 1998 now U.S. Pat. No 6,108,960entitled “Fishing Lure” by Brian P. Sylla and Randy A. Larson.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a fishing lure. In particular, thepresent invention is a crankbait which carries a tubular insert (such asa chemiluminescent or colored tube) element which is exposed below andon both sides of the crankbait body.

Fishing is among the most popular recreational sports. Anglers are ofall ages and from virtually all walks of life. In the United States, itis estimated that between 40 and 60 million people go fishing everyyear.

There is a never ending quest for more effective fishing lures. Lures ofall shapes, colors, and sizes have been used in attempts to attract fishand increase fishing success. Fish can be attracted by the sight, sound,and smell of lures.

In the past, various attempts have been made to develop a lighted lurewhich would be useful in attracting fish during low-light conditions.These conditions may occur during evening hours, during overcast days,and even on brightly lit days when water clarity is low. Examples oflighted fishing lures include the following patents: Bercz, et al. U.S.Pat. No. 3,708,903; Murphy U.S. Pat. No. Des. 381,734; Northcutt U.S.Pat. No. 3,940,868; Kulak U.S. Pat. No. 4,437,256; Malphrus U.S. Pat.No. 4,516,350; Cota, et al. U.S. Pat. No. 4,741,120; Douglas, Jr. U.S.Pat. No. 4,888,904; Kaplan U.S. Pat. No. 5,043,851; Ladyjensky U.S. Pat.No. 5,067,051; Livingston U.S. Pat. No. 5,157,857; Troescher U.S. Pat.No. 5,195,266; Giglia U.S. Pat. No. 5,213,405; Steiger, et al. U.S. Pat.No. 5,446,629; Hunt U.S. Pat. No. 5,495,690; and Ladyjensky U.S. Pat.No. 5,552,968.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The fishing lure of the present invention is a crankbait which includesa crankbait body having a cavity in its lower surface. A elongatedinsert (such as a chemiluminescent element or a colored tube) ispositioned in the cavity so that the insert is exposed below it on bothsides of the crankbait body.

The insert is releaseably held in place in the cavity. In preferredembodiments, the element is held in place by a bias spring, by a looplocated near a forward end of the cavity, or by flexing the element sothat it is captured by recesses at the front and rear ends of thecavity.

In another embodiment of the present invention, the fishing lure is partof a kit which includes a crankbait body and a set of inserts. Theinserts can include chemiluminescent tubes, as well as inserts which arenot light emitting, but which have different colors. As a result, thesame crankbait body can be modified to present different appearances,including those which are light emitting in order to attract fish ortrigger striking of the lure under a variety of different conditions.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a side elevational view of one embodiment of the fishing lureof the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a cross sectional view of the fishing lure of FIG. 1 takenalong section 2—2 of FIG. 3.

FIG. 3 is a cross sectional view of the fishing lure of FIGS. 1 and 2taken along section 3—3 of FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 is a side elevational view of a second embodiment of the fishinglure of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a bottom view of the fishing lure of FIG. 4.

FIG. 6 is an exploded view of a third embodiment of the fishing lure ofthe present invention.

FIG. 7 is a fishing lure kit which includes a crankbait and a set oftubular inserts.

FIG. 8 is an exploded view of another embodiment of the fishing lure ofthe present invention.

FIG. 9 is an assembled view of the fishing lure of FIG. 8.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

FIGS. 1-3 show a first embodiment of the present invention. Fishing lure10 includes crankbait body 12, treble hooks 14 and 16, andchemiluminescent light source tube 18. Crankbait body 12 includes bill20, front eyelet 22, bottom eyelet 24, and rear eyelet 26. On theunderside or belly of crankbait body 12 is a longitudinal cavity 28.Bias spring 30 is positioned in forward end pocket 28F of cavity 28.

When chemiluminescent tube 18 is positioned within cavity 28, the rearend of tube 18 is received in rear end pocket 28R of cavity 28. Thefront end of tube 18 presses against bias spring 30, and is capturedwithin forward end pocket 28F of cavity 28. Cavity 28 is shaped so thattube 18 is exposed on both sides and the bottom of crankbait body 12.

Front eyelet 22 is connected to a fishing line either directly by tying,or through a connector such as a snap or snap swivel.

Treble hook 14 is connected to lower eyelet 24 by split ring 32.Similarly, rear treble hook 16 is connected to rear eyelet 26 by splitring 34.

Chemiluminescent tubes are available from several sources and areavailable in different sizes and different colors. Typically, thechemiluminescent tube is activated by bending the tube until a snappingsound is heard, which breaks a seal separating two substances within thetube. The chemicals within the tube are then mixed by shaking the tube.Once activated, tube 18 is inserted within cavity 28. One form ofchemiluminescent tube which has been used with the present invention isCyalume® lightstick from Omniglow Corporation. Cyalume® is a registeredtrademark of American Cynamid Company. Cyalume® lightsticks areavailable in 1.5 inch (0.25 ml fluid) sizes in a number of differentcolors (including red and yellow). They are also available in a larger7.5 mm×75 mm size, which is used with larger crankbaits.

Another chemiluminescent tube which can be used with the presentinvention is the Firefly Lightstick from Bandi Co., Ltd. Seoul, Korea.

Light emitted from chemiluminescent tube 18 provides additional color orflash to the lure, and is particularly advantageous in low lightconditions caused either by lack of water clarity, weather conditions,or the time of day.

Other colored tubes, which are not chemiluminescent, can also beinserted into cavity 28. For example, under certain conditions a red,orange, chartreuse, silver, or copper colored tube can provideadditional color to lure 10 which may attract fish or trigger strikes.The present invention provides the flexibility of presenting differentappearances with the same lure.

FIGS. 4 and 5 show another embodiment of the present invention. Lure 50includes crankbait body 52, treble hooks 54 and 56, and tube 58 (whichmay be chemiluminescent or plain colored, as desired by the angler.

Crankbait body 52 includes bill 60, front eyelet 62, bottom eyelet 64,and rear eyelet 66. Longitudinal cavity 68 has a rear end 68R forcapturing the rear end of tube 58. The forward end of tube 58 iscaptured and held in place by eyelet 70.

FIG. 5 shows cavity 68 with tube 58 removed. Treble hook 54 is also notshown in FIG. 5 for clarity.

As shown in FIG. 4, tube 58 is slightly flexed as it is held in place.The Firefly Lightstick from Bandi Co., Ltd. has been found to havesufficient flexibility to allow it to perform while in a slightly flexedcondition.

FIG. 6 shows still another embodiment of the present invention. Lure 80is shown in an exploded view. Crankbait 82 carries a pair of treblehooks 84 and 86. A tubular insert 88, which may be a chemiluminescenttube or a tube of a selected color, is carried within crankbait body 82,with the sides and bottom of tube 88 exposed.

Crankbait body 82 has bill 90, front eyelet 92, lower eyelet 94, reareyelet 96, and cavity 98. Positioned within cavity 98 are cavity liner100 and bias spring 102. Liner 100 is preferably formed from a metal orplastic tube which is shaped to match the contour of the outer edge ofcavity 98. Tube 88 is inserted into cavity 98 and into liner 100. Biasspring 102 acts on the forward end of tube 88 to hold the rear end oftube 88 within the rear portion of liner 100. In embodiments wherecrankbait body 82 is molded plastic, liner 100 is preferably inserted ina mold and crankbait body 82 is molded around it.

FIG. 7 shows an embodiment of the present invention which is in the formof a fishing lure kit 120. The kit includes container 122 with foamliner 124, which has cutout sections 126, 128, and 130.

Crankbait 140, which for example may be any one of the forms illustratedin FIGS. 1-6 (or the form illustrated in FIGS. 8 and 9) is positionedwithin cutout 126. Cutout 128 contains a number of different coloredtubes 150. The tubes may be, for example, chartreuse, copper, red,yellow, and silver, as illustrated in FIG. 7, or may be a wide varietyof other colors. Cutout 130 provides a storage space for sealed packages160 which contain chemiluminescent tubes.

FIGS. 8 and 9 show another embodiment of the present invention. Lure 170is shown in an exploded view in FIG. 8 and an assembled view in FIG. 9.

Lure 170 includes crankbait body 172, which carries a pair of treblehooks 174 and 176. Insert 178, which may be a chemiluminescent tube or atube of a selected color, is carried within crankbait body 172, with thesides and bottom of insert 178 exposed.

Crankbait body 172 has bill 180, front eyelet 182, lower eyelet 184, andrear eyelet 186. Cavity 188, with front end pocket 188F and rear endpocket 188R, is located in the bottom surface of crankbait body 172.Insert 178 is inserted into cavity 188 by flexing tube 178 slightly sothat it is arched as shown in FIG. 9. The forward end of insert 178 islocated in and captured by front end pocket 188F. The rear end of insert178 is located in and captured by rear end pocket 188R.

In the embodiment shown in FIGS. 8 and 9, the natural resiliency oftubular insert 178 facilitates its insertion into cavity 188, and itsretention within cavity 188, during use of lure 170. Insert 178 can beremoved simply by pulling downward on it so that one or both ends popout of pockets 188F and 188R.

In each of the embodiments illustrated in FIGS. 1-9, the crankbait bodyhas had the same general shape and hook configuration. It is well knownthat crankbaits come in a wide variety of different sizes and shapes,with varying numbers of hooks. Some crankbaits have bills and others donot. The location of the front eyelet can vary considerably. In somelures, the eyelet is located on the bill, while in others the eyelet islocated on a top surface of the crankbait body.

The present invention is applicable to any of these crankbaitconfigurations. The location of the insert may differ depending upon thespecific shape of the crankbait. Although all of the embodimentsillustrated have shown the cavity located in a lower surface of thecrankbait body, the cavity can, alternatively, be located in an uppersurface. In still other embodiments, more than one cavity can be locatedin the crankbait, such as on each side or on both top and bottom.

The present invention provides a simple and effective way to vary theappearance of a crankbait as needed and dictated by different fishingconditions. Different colors of inserts can provide a differentappearance which may more closely match the appearance of bait fish inthe body of water being fished, or may provide a color which triggers astrike because of lighting and water clarity conditions. The colorchoices can include an insert which is the same as the crankbait body.Similarly, the use of chemiluminescent tube inserts can provide for anincreased visibility or flash to the crankbait in low light or poorwater clarity conditions. Changes to the crankbait are made quickly andeasily using the inserts, without the need to retie a new lure.

Although the present invention has been described with reference topreferred embodiments, workers skilled in the art will recognize thatchanges may be made in form and detail without departing from the spiritand scope of the invention.

What is claimed is:
 1. A fishing lure comprising: a crankbait bodyhaving a cavity in a surface; an elongated insert releasably positionedin the cavity so that at least a portion of the insert is exposed, theinsert having a first end and a second end; and a loop located near afirst end of the cavity for releasably holding the first end of theinsert, and wherein the insert is flexed to hold the second end of theinsert so as to be engaged in the cavity.
 2. The fishing lure of claim 1wherein the cavity has a second end, and wherein the second end of theinsert is positioned in the second end of the cavity.
 3. The fishinglure of claim 1 wherein the insert is a chemiluminescent element.
 4. Thefishing lure of claim 1 wherein the insert is a colored tubular element.5. The fishing lure of claim 1 wherein the cavity is positioned so thatthe insert is directly viewable below and on both sides of the crankbaitbody.
 6. The fishing lure of claim 5 wherein the crankbait body isshaped to resemble a baitfish.
 7. The fishing lure of claim 6 whereinthe cavity is disposed on a bottom surface of the crankbait body.
 8. Afishing lure comprising: a crankbait body having a grove in a surface,the groove having a first end and a second end; an elongated insertreleasably positioned in the groove so that at least a portion of theinsert is exposed, the insert having a first end and a second end; aloop located near the first end of the groove, wherein the first end ofthe insert is releasably held by the loop and the insert is flexed tohold the second end of the insert so as to be engaged in the second endof the cavity.
 9. A fishing lure kit comprising: a crankbait body havinga cavity in a surface; a plurality of different elongated insertsreleasably positionable within the cavity to alter an appearance of thecrankbait body, each insert having a first end and a second end; and aloop located near a first end of the cavity for releasably holding thefirst end of the insert and wherein the insert is flexed to hold thesecond end of the insert so as to be engaged in the cavity.
 10. Thefishing lure kit of claim 9 wherein the inserts include chemiluminescentelements.
 11. The fishing lure kit of claim 9 wherein the insertsinclude a plurality of different colored elements.
 12. The fishing lurekit of claim 9 wherein the cavity is located in a lower surface of thecrankbait body so that the inserts, when positioned in the cavity, aredirectly viewable below and on both sides of the crankbait body.
 13. Thefishing lure kit of claim 12 wherein the crankbait body is shaped toresemble a baitfish.